Budget chairman presses Martin Schulz on MEP limo plan

Budget hawks in the European Parliament are pushing back against President Martin Schulz's plan to spend millions of euro per year on a new in-house chauffeur service for MEPs.

Senior members of the Parliament's Budgets Committee raised concerns that Schulz has not acted on a resolution passed by MEPs in April directing him to look for a less expensive solution for chauffeuring legislators, a task now handled by external contractors. In a May 31 letter to Schulz, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO, the committee's chairman asked the president to respect the resolution.

MEPs agreed to Schulz's proposal to set up an in-house limo service that would add an additional €3.7 million to the current €7 million transport budget, but asked that other alternatives — including finding another contractor — be explored. The resolution, however, was non-binding, and Schulz is free to ignore it.

Parliament leaders say the in-house driver service is needed to improve security. Schulz is pushing forward on a plan to purchase a fleet of cars, hire up to 100 chauffeurs, and equip them with €1,000 uniforms to improve the service and ensure security for lawmakers.

But before checking for alternative solutions, Parliament Secretary General Klaus Welle signed a request in May to spend €200,000 from the 2016 Parliamentary budget to start the recruitment process for drivers. According to the request, a list of 300 applicants would be drafted, then subjected to passing further tests and security checks.

Budgets Committee chairman Jean Arthuis, a Liberal MEP, asked Schulz in their letter to review the money transfer after the decision to move forward quickly without exploring alternative solutions fed the frustration of some MEPs.

"We consider the approval of this proposition would go against the position taken by our committee and the plenary," Arthuis said in the letter, which was co-signed by two other panel members. "We are inviting you to suspend this ongoing demand until a final decision is taken" this autumn, when MEPs will vote on the budget.

Schulz's office did not respond to requests for comment about the matter.

Welle is slated to meet with the two vice-presidents in the European Parliament in charge of the dossier — German center-right MEP Rainer Wieland and Italian center-left MEP David-Maria Sassoli — on July 12 to discuss the topic.

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Marcel

Obergruppenführer Schulz looking out for himself and his friends, at our expense of course. They truly believe themselves to be a nomenklatura that ought to be elevated above the “commoners”.

Posted on 6/14/16 | 4:04 PM CET

Alex

This story typifies all that is wrong with the EU, this guy and his team must be sacked and never replaced.
The EU is only one – away from FU

Posted on 6/14/16 | 5:29 PM CET

Strindberg

Is Schultz working for BREXIT? One could believe so with such ideas coming up. Why not a private jet for every MEP? They are certainly worth it in the world of the Schulz’s.

As for security: why not instead striving and working in Brussels for a Europe where MEP’s and others (like us common mortals) COULD and DARED walk in the streets of Europe? Schulz and the MEPs claim that they represent us. Why do not they want to share OUR security?

Posted on 6/14/16 | 7:55 PM CET

glasspix 1

Man-pulled rickshaws would better suit the greatness and genius of the man. And they would reduce air pollution in Brussels.